“So now, why do people want to be kind? What do you get out of being kind?” “It feels better. They be kind back to us. I liked teaching my little brother. You get a reward. I feel happy. God knows about it.” I think these sixth graders in Indonesia understood the basics about the power differential, and I look forward to finding naturally emerging ways to build on this. Ethical and wise use of power is a universally important topic.

Bullying is a part of life. Some bullying goes way too far and needs to be taken care of. But the world is not always a kind place. People pick on the weak and socially awkward after their school days. Bullying shouldn't be encouraged, but it's a normal thing that people should experience.

My own best anti-bullying tactic is to call it what is it - to students, adults, whatever. When you don't have time to explain why behavior can be hurtful, a simple 'that's sexism and it is unacceptable in the classroom' will work wonders.

“So now, why do people want to be kind? What do you get out of being kind?” “It feels better. They be kind back to us. I liked teaching my little brother. You get a reward. I feel happy. God knows about it.” I think these sixth graders in Indonesia understood the basics about the power differential, and I look forward to finding naturally emerging ways to build on this. Ethical and wise use of power is a universally important topic.

More worthwhile than the average English lesson, I think.

These are not my people; an outsider cannot change the culture in schools and society here. We are metics, we are not citizens.

Yeah...that is a good point.
Once proselytizing enters the equation, education exits.

I agree in large part, but the quote about god (from the article) is simply coming from something that one of the children said; it's not any indication of proselytizing or of religious indoctrination on the part of the teacher.

Yeah...that is a good point.
Once proselytizing enters the equation, education exits.

I agree in large part, but the quote about god (from the article) is simply coming from something that one of the children said; it's not any indication of proselytizing or of religious indoctrination on the part of the teacher.

A truly effective teacher can add social justice into any strand. Having students attempt to communicate their thoughts on bullying is a great way to use their English and hit the social justice piece at the same time. Plus, it's more interesting than the regular stuff from the textbooks.

“So now, why do people want to be kind? What do you get out of being kind?” “It feels better. They be kind back to us. I liked teaching my little brother. You get a reward. I feel happy. God knows about it.” I think these sixth graders in Indonesia understood the basics about the power differential, and I look forward to finding naturally emerging ways to build on this. Ethical and wise use of power is a universally important topic.

More worthwhile than the average English lesson, I think.

These are not my people; an outsider cannot change the culture in schools and society here. We are metics, we are not citizens.

If you see bullying in your classroom, you should do something about it, end of story. As a teacher in the classroom, metic or no, you represent authority and it is important that authority be moral.